Painted flowers
by Inofanfictions
Summary: When the festival of love comes to Konoha village everyone has dates- Naruto and Hinata, Sakura and Kiba, Tenten and Neji, and even Temari came down from Suna to be with Shikamaru. When Ino is all alone on the festival weekend she runs into unexpected trouble.


The festival was rounding the corner, the festival of love. Sakura and Sasuke are in love. Hinata and Naruto are in love. Tenten and Neji are in love. Shikamaru and Temari are in love. Kiba of course picked up some random babe he met. Shino, Chouji, and Lee can't go because they're out on a mission together. Why not me? I sighed and looked around at the flowers, there are so many. It's a beautiful day outside and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. No one was in the shop today. _Why would they be?_ I rolled my eyes and hit my head on the counter. Maybe if I hit my head enough times prince charming will come and save me. I rolled my eyes and kept hitting my head on the counter.

5 more minutes until closing time, finally. I decided to go and get ready to close up. I took my ugly apron off and threw it onto the hook where it always sits. I watered the flowers a little bit and checked to see if anything is amiss. I looked into the mirror in the bathroom to see that I was a mess. There's dirt all over my face and my forehead's bleeding a little bit; My hair is all messy and I'm wearing ratty clothing. There is my mom's old make-up bag and an old pink kimono upstairs, why not wear it out and go get a drink? I rushed upstairs, excited about my new idea. I grabbed the make-up bag and kimono then flew down the steps to the bathroom. I brushed out my hair and put it up in a nice bun with jewels and stuff too, but left my bangs out of it. I touched up my make-up all pretty and put on the kimono and sandals. I walked outside of the shop and locked up. I casually walked down the streets, smiling triumphantly as I caught the eyes of many onlookers. Suddenly Sai runs into me at full speed and knocks me down to the ground.

"Hey, what the hell Sai?" I yell to him as he stands there with a dumbfounded look on his face.

"I-Ino I'm so sorry!" He apologizes as he offers a hand to help me up.

My eyes narrow and I take his hand and get up shakily, "So what are you in such a rush for anyways?"

"Well ino-chan, I was rushing to get to your flower shop." He said with his stupid fake smile.

"Why would you want to go there? Trying to get a date?" I spat back, completely pissed he ran into me.

"Well that would be nice, but no." I looked at him, confused.

'_What the hell does he mean, and what does he want from me.' _I thought dully wondering what was going on.

"I'm going to be needing flowers to put on… someones grave." Whether he was trying to make me feel bad or was just telling the truth, I felt really bad.

"Oh… Sai I'm really sorry. The shop is closed up but we can go back and you can get whatever flowers you wanted, free of charge." He just sat there and smiled, I guess it was a real smile but I don't know.

"So Ino, why are you all dressed up? The festival isn't until tomorrow…" He was looking her dress and face up and down with a puzzled look on his face.

"Well, this isn't for the festival. I have no date, and since it's the festival of love, I'm not going so I'm going to party tonight so I don't have to tomorrow." I replied, my face turning a bright red color.

"Yeah… But that didn't answer my question. Why are you all dressed up?" He was still looking at me.

"Oh, I was gonna go out for a drink and I dunno. I guess I could've picked some random guy up and… I don't know…" I almost was ashamed of myself or something.

"Oh… Well just remember, you're not a hooker." He laughed lightly.

I looked over at him and punched him lightly in the shoulder, while laughing with him. "Were almost here, just a block more." We walked the rest of the way in silence, taking glances over at each other occasionally. I unlocked the door to the shop and flipped on the lights casually.

"So, which one should I get?" I'm glad he didn't say take, that wouldn't of settled right.

"Oh, um, this one is what people usually get to take to graves." I pointed to a white camellia flower.

He looked back at me and smiled, "Thanks Ino… Do you wanna go and put this on the grave with me?" He looked kind've nervous but I just nodded and we walked back out the door. I locked it and then we continued walking up a road the leads to a hill where all the gravestones are.

"Ino, how do you not have a date?" He asked peering over at me.

"Well. Most people in Konoha have dates." I instantly regretted saying this because I looked over at Sai and he was just looking at the ground. "Oh Sai, I didn't mean it like that… I'm sorry."

"Oh it's okay Ino, you don't have a date either so that evens us out." He smiled and I couldn't help but smile back with him, his smile was so _contagious_.

"Why is it always so cold in Konoha?" The wind was picking up as we walked up the stone path. I looked over at Sai who was unzipping his jacket. "Um Sai, what are you doing?" He handed me has jacket just like gentleman. I took it and put it on, watching it cover my upper bodily as I petted the fabric.

"You looked cold Ino-chan…" He said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. His chest was bare and his muscles were ripped but I couldn't help but blush at this gesture.

"Thank you Sai, you're quite a gentleman." I said, giggling sweetly and putting my body closer to his.

"Well you're very welcome Ino-chan." He replied, walking up the path with me.

"So, who are you going to take tomorrow?" I asked curiously hoping somewhere deep inside of me he wasn't taking anyone.

"Why do you care…" He said, looking towards the ground shamefully.

"….You're not taking anyone? But how?" I asked, looking over at him fireworks going off in my head. Why was I happy? It's not like I like him like that, but it does sound like fun I guess, I don't know, maybe…

"Ino Yamanaka." He looked over at me with his big eyes and a soft look.

So many thoughts rushed through my head at once and for a second I thought about so many things. Was he going to pop the question? What if he did, what are the others going to think? I wonder if he's a good artist? Will he wear a tuxedo? Ever since that day when he called me pretty I thought about him in that way a little bit, but not that much. But look at him, he's so _hot_ and his muscles are amazing, and so is his voice, and his thoughts and his everything. If he's going to ask the question will I say yes? Oh god… What is he going to say?!

"Do you like birds?"

I sighed loudly and pinched the bridge of my nose in annoyance. "Yeah, I guess…"

He blushed slightly as we walked the rest of way in silence. "Sai, who's grave are we walking to? If you don't want to talk about it I'm fine with that…" I asked as he opened the cemetery gates.

"…Um." He mumbled slightly.

Wait. This is not the cemetery. _This is the Konoha garden?_ "Sai… What are we doing here?" I asked, my eyes looking over at him in horror of pointlessly walking all this way to look at fucking flowers.

"Well." He took my hand and we ran towards the center. The flowers were just blooming and everything looked absolutely beautiful. The pink and purple flowers ran together perfectly, the sun setting next to us, making everything look stunning. As we got to the center there was a fountain with Cupid spitting sparkling blue water out of its love arrow. A banner was thrown across the fountain and it had very beautiful cursive lettering written across it. It took me a second to read but after a minute or two I read it perfectly, '_Festival?' _Was this how he was going to ask me?

"Ino Yamanaka." He led me to the fountain were we sat on the edge as I took in the scenery around us. The sun was setting on everything, causing the most vibrant colors to play off of the flowers and the fountain to sparkle and reflect us beautifully. All of the scenery made Sai look like a handsome prince who would come save a princess from a dragon like in fairy tales. "Would you like to go to the festival of love with me?"


End file.
